California's Santa Anas a Familiar Figure of the Apocalypse, the Reuters article I just read says.

Um. Okay. A familiar figure of all the apocalypses we've had so far? Are they saying this is the Apocalypse? If it is, would that be something you'd read about on Yahoo! News?

I will say it's crazy out here. I'll also say that it's not a good idea to try two last minute work intensive recipes at the same time, particularly if one involves a technique you've not really used and the other tricky math conversions.

I made Mark Bittman's fish with hard cooked egg sauce from his last Minimalist column. The sauce was okay. The fish, which I steamed by the two dinner plate method, got a little waterlogged. I used to steam tamales by hanging foil with holes poked in it over boiling water- I may try that next time. I also made lemony garlic skillet green beans from the new Cook's Illustrated. Giant pain in my ass, no sauce green beans, is what I'd call them. I think the fault lay in either a) my math skills or b)the fact that, if I read it correctly you make a roux, then toss the green beans, then add the stock. I think if you added the stock and made a sauce before adding the green beans, it would have worked better. And also cooked it on lower than medium. I don't know.

It wasn't a success, but my tastebuds are fried anyway. Fires and strikes and whatnot.